RE Kya: Dark Lineage
by TheChanger
Summary: Basically a redo of the entire game of Kya DL, cause its needs to be redone BADLY! Please check it out and tell me what you think in a review, cause I really need opinions!
1. The Prelude to Everything

**DISCLAIMER:  
I DO NOT own Kya: Dark Lineage! I own absolutely NOTHING! This game belongs to Atari and Eden Games only, which is why the Title is the same as the game with only a "Re:" added. Idea taken from Re: COM from KH, but I'm sure tons of other games have used that too.**

**_Partial Ownership of:_**  
**I own a quite a few characters here and there and just three worlds, but those are not entirely mine either since they are based on the game. It's easy enough to keep track of the characters and the places that already exist so I don't feel the need to list anything, especially because it's also easy enough to look it up online. I trust everyone who actually finds this story will be able to know, and if not well… go look it up.**

**Here's the deal: So I was playing the game over again for the hundredth time or so, and suddenly it hit me. This game has great graphics (needs a little work in the animation department but a decent job nonetheless), good lip synching (which is more than one can say for some OTHER games I will not mention…*cough* FFX & X-2 *cough*), the gameplay is not HORRIBLE but not great either, addictive (like crystal meth), I like all the glitches, though it needs a little something more… but its plotline SUCKS. There are major plotholes everywhere and so many details left out about the characters! They have a perfectly good heroine and they don't do her proper justice! And all the characters that were made are basically there to serve and worship her! WHY IS SHE THE ONLY FEMALE IN THE ENTIRE GAME? UBER MARY-SUE ALERT! And don't get me started on the horrible script… just… no.  
So basically I'm going to do a story version of the game, but I'm retelling the story my way, with more action and more excitement and everything this poor miserable game lacks. I promise you a much better version that you will actually enjoy if you wish to read. Now I know this was meant to be a kid's game…. but I suck at those so… I'll try! But… hopefully you can bear with a T rating ^^'.**

** Anyways, PLEASE leave reviews and tell me how I'm doing. If I forget something or you have a suggestion, if maybe the story needs something more, go ahead and speak up. I'm not gonna bite your head off… unless you flame me of course. XD**

**So, without further delay of word fluff, here goes the story!**

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**Prelude**

2:30pm in the afternoon.

Not bad timing considering the whole family was going to be racing through the door one after the other in a minute. She was used to it by now, but that didn't make getting dinner prepared for them all during her 2 hour lunch break any less stressful.

She had to let her boss know, clock herself out at 1:30, and then drive home to 46th Turnpike Drive and into the driveway of that city dumb of a two story house. Once inside, she would loosen her work attire, put up her long and straight dark chocolate hair, and set straight to making enough lunch to feed four hungry mouths, all of which could eat mountains of food. She had to be done soon enough that she had enough time to feed herself, that way she was ready for the pile of dishes that would come her way, which in turn insured that she had enough time for herself before she had to get ready to go back to work.

And that was pretty much how every day went, except for the weekends she had off. Working as the assistant of a big game producing company was a tireless job unless you had earned enough respect that your boss knew he could rely on you and thus was willing to give you the time off that you needed. 49 years of life and about 20 of them spent working the same job, doing her best for the family. The United State's New York City was probably one of the best places even for a woman to make a living in today's world.

Currently she was in the stage of making a super extra large batch of the family favorite, which took a while to make, so she sat at the kitchen counter doing work on her laptop waiting for it to be done. A few minutes in and she had to get up. She just couldn't sit too long in one spot. If she did, she would lose the momentum of the energy she started with and the rest of the day would be agony to get through. As she walked around the house looking for something active to do, her dark brown gaze landed on something that called for her immediate attention. Stopping in the long hallway just across from her daughter's room, she looked at the desk through the open doorway and there it was, leering at her. Stepping inside, even knowing that her daughter had boundaries set, she gently picked up the picture frame and examined it.

Captured in that frozen memory, a young 3-year-old girl with lilac blue hair and piercingly assertive deep green eyes stared up at her, the face of her father but the pale tan skin of her mother, wearing her favorite red dress of that time, her posture of innocent confidence. And kneeling behind her, one big hand resting on her tiny shoulder, a man with the girl's same deep green eyes and lilac blue hair smiled up at the camera with that same air of confidence, only a more mature version. However, this she knew from memory. In the photo, the man's face was no longer visible, crossed out by a black inked scribble of pained indigence.

"Oh, Kya..." She breathed her daughter's name, a forlorn tone carried with it. "Alan... wherever you went... why did you leave?" A wave of that old heartache surged through her, a memory of what had been; a life of love and bliss shattered long ago. It was one she tried not to remember, even as her fingertips gently brushed the glass over the faces of the two in the picture, maybe as if trying to reach out and touch that life one last time.

The loud ring of the house phone made her jump out of her reminiscence. Putting the frame back carefully, making it seem as though she'd never touched it, she stepped out of the room and headed for the living room.

The house phone was a cordless one, making it much more difficult to find it once she realized that it was not on the receiver where it should have been. The phone rang about five more times as she searched the house for it, finally discovering it under an unorganized pile of papers where her son usually did his homework, and she remembered that he had been on call with one of his friends from high school who had offered to help tutor him, which would mean that if he had left the phone here all night, the batteries might be out. As she quickly looked at the caller ID, seeing that it was her husband, she noticed that she was right about the battery, but she answered the phone anyway, hopping that it wouldn't take long.

"Azumi?" Came a voice over the other line. There was nothing in his voice to indicate that anything was wrong, but the fact that he had beaten her to the usual phone greeting made her wonder.

"Richard, honey." She said with surprise, checking her watch. "You're almost home, aren't you? Why call now?"

"It's Kya." He replied, and now there was an almost urgent undertone in his voice. "She's in the hospital. Again."

"What?" Azumi almost dropped the phone and ran at the word hospital, but she stopped herself with great effort and forced herself to stay on the phone and listen to his next words, intuition telling her that her first reaction might be an overreaction.

"She's ok, they're saying it's just a sprain, but you might want to get down here anyway. I've already called for Dr. Amel, she's on her way, and I've alerted Mr. Gardale in case we end up needing him."

She breathed a sigh of relief at those words, but she still could not rest easy. "Tell me everything when I get there."

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**I know, it was really short, but don't worry, that's only because this is the prelude. Also, I'm not going to jump right into the main story yet, I want to set up and establish all the main characters of this world first.**

**So! Whoever reads this story, I don't expect many of you, please review and tell me what you think so far, I REALLY need your opinions, and if I could ask you to spread the word, I'd very much appreciate the help. I'd like to remake the soiled name of Kya DL. It's a seriously crap game, I know, but it has so much potential story wise. Thanks, and I'll try and update as long as I can!**


	2. Chapter 1: A Normal Family or is it?

**And here is the second installment! Sorry guys, it's a bit of a doosy, I didn't mean for it to be this long, but as I say to all my readers in my other stories, the story writes itself, I have little control over what it wants to do.**

**Don't forget to let me know how you think things are going. I really appreciate the advice and helpful critisizim.**

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**Chapter 1**

**_Normal World_**

"I understand that you're upset, Miss Devron, but I really should take a blood sample."

"And like I've been saying, I'm sorry, but I really don't want you to. I have my own doctor for this, just let me go see her."

She stared unfalteringly at the nurse with a heated defiant gaze, just daring him to keep trying to convince her otherwise. He stared right back, not the least bit intimidated by her.

At their feet lay shards of glass and the broken needle head of what had been the syringe, and around it a tiny pool and little spatters of blood, where it had all ended up after she had slapped it from his hand. There was another nurse already cleaning it up.

It wasn't that she was hurt badly, but her clothes were pretty much covered in blood from the shallow wounds she'd acquired in her latest quest for a thrill. She was surrounding by at least seven other nurses who were taking her injuries far too seriously, but this was not the problem she had with them. It was the fact that they were trying to take her blood on record.

Why did she have a problem with this? It wasn't just the paranoia she'd picked up from her father. Anyone who saw her blood type was bound to do a quintuple take, think that she might be alien, and then freak out at her. Usually, anyone who found out either made fun of her or had some sort of connection to the military, government, or a scientific association, and that always entailed trouble of the kind that involved experiments in the name of science, something she would rather avoid at all costs. The only two people that she trusted with her well-being besides herself, her family, and her best friend was her own specific doctor and lawyer, both specially hired by her father –who had had the same condition to a more severe degree– just to avoid this exact situation.

The Nurse, however, was not seeing it her way. "There is no time for this, Miss Devron. If I don't get a blood sample, we will never know why the meds aren't working on you or how to fix it and your injuries will get infected. If you won't give blood then at least tell me what condition you have."

"It's a private matter that I'd rather not disclose even with you. Now let me call my doctor, dammit."

"And if you keep refusing to cooperate, I'm going to have to assume you're either intoxicated, on drugs, or both. Go ahead and pick your poison. What will it be?"

She couldn't argue with his assumption. He had every right to assume it, and she knew it. But she had to stall for as long as she could. Her stepfather was already outside calling her personal doctor and her mother, but the doctor still had a 20 minute drive to the hospital and she wasn't sure how much time had already passed.

With a sharp sigh, she realized her mistake. "Look, I'm NOT on anything. My stepfather is outside calling my doctor right now. She'll be here any minute, and this wound is not going to get any worse in that period of time." She had woken up in a daze, saw the needle in her arm pull away like a mosquito that had had its fill of blood, went into a panic and, not knowing what else to do in that hazy moment, she had slapped at his hand so hard that the needle shattered to the floor, spilling its contents. After that, she knew things were only going to go downhill.

Not surprisingly, the nurse was so appalled by her actions that he was suspicious of her now, and he wasn't going to buy any of her stalling any longer. "That's where your wrong, Miss Devron. The lacerations could probably wait, but your concussion is too serious to ignore. I'm surprised you didn't even break anything from your fall, now hold still."

To her dismay, he began to order his assistant nurses to hold her down. She was strong enough that she could fling all seven of them off her at any time she wanted, but she didn't want to prove the head nurse right nor did she want to end up hurting them with her thrashing. All she could do was struggle just enough that they didn't suspect how strong she really was and hope to God that her stepfather would rush in through the door with her doctor before the needle was in her arm. Again.

Actually, it was about as the head nurse was inserting the needle into the most prominent vein in her forearm that they came bursting through the door, not after she had done all she could to stall him of course.

The first one to throw the door open was a girl about her age, thin wavy light ash blonde hair reaching just past her shoulder blades, stormy grey eyes wide with relief, wearing a blue corset style blouse, a pair of jeans that only reached her shins, and silvery-grey woman's rebook zig pulse IIs. "She's here!" The girl exclaimed as she came in.

Her stepfather quickly followed, his receding salt and pepper hairline covered in an Ed Westwick Caesar haircut, facial hair shaved to chin strap style. His bright baby blue eyes were about as wide as hers with relief that he was only just in the nick of time. "Dr. Amel will take over now."

As he moved aside, a woman in a very formal business dress with a doctor's white coat over it walked passed him, her dark red hair as shiny as the floor and fluffy as if she'd just let it down from a tight bun, bouncing lightly in the short bob that framed her face. Her hazel-amber eyes, burning with a seasoned professional confidence, were framed by slim rimless silver eyeglasses meant mostly for farsightedness, but she had already grown so used to them that she was always wearing them for everything. With a body that men fawn over but nearly non-existed breasts for a woman who was about middle-aged and still looked decent, she quickly made her way over to the stretcher with a small bounce in her step and shooed the nurses away, annoyed that they would treat her patient in such a way. "This is ridiculous… Enough of this! Let go of my patient now or I _will_ call a lawyer." She scolded them with an assertive tone.

The head nurse, having no inkling of just who she was, turned to the woman with an annoyed scowl on his face, as though his height plus the lean muscular build was intimidating enough to scare off a woman as fiery as the one he was up against. "And what makes you think you're qualified to boss us around or even take care of emergency patients, Miss Amel? The white coat doesn't make anything official." He then turned to his assistant nurses, who had all been successfully removed from the patient. "Will someone please call security and the head doctor, now?"

Before he had the chance to make that an order, Amel shoved a card in his face showing her ID as a professional freelancing medical doctor of more than one field. "If you need proof then go run this through your system. You might be disappointed, but I'm afraid you'll find it's not a fake."

The head nurse sighed in exasperation, took the ID, and scanned it, only to find that she was right. With great reluctance, he handed the card back to her begrudgingly. "Fine... take over _Doctor _Amel."

"Thank you, young man." She ignored his tone of disrespect and went straight to examining her patient. Without even missing a beat, she went straight to bedside manner talk. "So, Kya Devron, what exactly did you do this time?"

"I told you to just call me Kya, Fhenise." Kya answered, relaxing onto the stretcher now that the danger of her strange blood being discovered was no longer an issue. She could still feel the pounding of her pulse even as it subsided. It had been far too close for comfort, though this was not the first time, and so the rush –though still unwelcome even after all these years– was a familiar one. "Kirsi and I were skydiving this time, that's what happened."

Beside her, the girl that had come in with her stepfather added the detail Kya seemed to have left out with a slight tone of mockery. "She missed the mark and hit the trees like George of the jungle."

"Shut up, Kirsi."

Her friend just giggled and started singing the George of the jungle song, ending with an imitation of herself saying the famous line to Kya. "Watch out for that-! ...Tree..."

Kya glared at her, but Kirsi simply giggled more.

"Girls, this is not something to make fun of, Kya could have seriously gotten hurt." Her stepfather scolded them in the tone of a worried parent. "Your mother is going to be here any minute-"

"Oh, Richard, it's not as bad as it seems." Fhenise cut him off without looking up from her work. "You know how your girl can heal, even from fatal wounds."

"That's not the point, Fhenise. Azumi is always worried about Kya. You know how she is, and even if Kya is a fast healer, she should really be more careful about what she's doing."

Kya couldn't help but feel like they had forgotten all about her. "Guys, I'm right here." It didn't surprise her, but when they went on as if they hadn't heard, she sighed, feeling ignored. As the two continued to argue, nothing seemed able to stop the train wreck on its way... except one thing.

"Kya!" Came the grievous cry that she was dreading, audible even from all the way down the hall. Through the open door burst the woman in question, and though the nurses tried to keep her from coming in, even they could not stop the whirlwind of worry that was Kya's mother. In her fret, she knocked down several of the assistant nurses and even Kirsi and Richard just to get to the stretcher. It was almost a mystery as to how Fhenise remained untouched, although Kya was sure she knew. "Kya, my baby girl, are you alright! The minute Richard called and told me, I came rushing over!"

"Mom... can't breathe..." Kya found herself squashed face first between her mother's giant breasts, which were almost disproportionate with the rest of her stick figure. The skinny figure was common to the Asian lineage, but big boobs came from both somewhere outside that bloodline and from plastic surgery, which had been decided on after many years of ridicule for having as much cleavage as Fhenise and caring about it.

But her muffled protest went unheard as Azumi turned to the freelance doctor. "What's the matter with her, Fhenise?"

With a smile at Azumi's over the top motherly concern, Fhenise spared a glance at the oriental woman. "She'll be fine, Mrs. Brogan. Just a few lacerations and a minor concussion, nothing to worry about, and you know your daughter. She heals fast and right as rain! You might want to let her go before you cut off her airways though…"

"Oh!" As if just realizing what she was doing, she released Kya from her grasp only enough that the girl wasn't gagging for air. "Forgive me, sweetheart..."

"I'm... ok..." Kya replied in between gulps of air. "I wasn't dying... really..."

"By the way," Fhenise turned to Richard, ignoring Kya's sarcasm, "You didn't call that airhead of a lawyer, did you?"

Richard shook his head. "I only put Mr. Gardale on alert. I figured you could handle it unless worse came to worst."

"Good," She said with relief, never pausing as she worked on Kya, "That big oaf would have only made things worse. Being the heir to a big law firm seems to go to David's head."

While the nurses looked plenty annoyed by this, Kya and Kirsi shared a grin amid the chaos of the moment.

Fhenise then proceeded to oversee every treatment that Kya underwent until she was finished. After that, despite the protests of the hospital staff, she ordered that Kya stay home for a few days and only attend school through skype. This way, Fhenise had full control over the girl's recovery, Kya could heal fast, and the issue of her unusual blood was out of the way. One of the worst things about being coddled was that she was rarely allowed to get up, even when it wasn't a danger to her healing process, and any time they saw her it was like seeing her up and walking around even though she was perfectly fine made them almost wet and soil their pants and have a heart attack all at the same time. This never stopped her, however.

As she walked through the living room to get to the kitchen, her objective to scrounge around for some leftovers from dinner, she had to pass by her little half brother and his two friends while they were playing wii.

He was about four years younger than her, had the raven black hair of his father, spiked up in a kind of spiky Japanese hair cut with a small goatee on his chin, the brown eyes of their mother, and that common European-Asian crossbred look. He was wearing his classic attire, waterproof watch on his right wrist, a green T-shirt with a single left chest pocket and a darker patch of green across his shoulders, a pair of flare jeans a size too big for him so they dangled around his lower half so loosely it was a wonder he was able to keep them on, or without his underwear showing all the time, and a pair of black sneakers. Sometimes she worried about what kind of fashion statement he was trying to make to the world, but their parents never protested and she wasn't about to correct him if he refused to listen.

"Kya?" He flew up out of his seat, almost making his friend drop the controller. "What are you doing up? You're still injured! Why aren't you resting?" Part of what he said was in Japanese, and though his friends may not have understood, she knew what he was saying perfectly. Being born in a bilingual family had that kind of effect.

She hardly stopped in her path to the kitchen to acknowledge him and his statement. "Because it's not as bad as everyone makes it out to be, as usual. I can walk just fine, Frank."

He seemed to get frustrated when she called him by his name. "Satoshi, dammit! How many times do I have to tell you, One-san?"

"Whatever, _Franklyn-chan_." Still ignoring his concern, she arrived unhindered at her destination and peered indifferently into the fridge, knowing that even if they didn't understand everything that was said, mentioning his name would get a laugh out of his friends and distract him, giving her more time to ponder on what she was going drink or eat or whatever she decided she wanted. She still wasn't sure yet.

The younger of the two friends burst out into laughter the minute she said Frank's real name, as if the sound of it was far too Ancient America for him to stand it. He had to be the nerdiest little runt she'd ever seen, heart of gold, but a state of mind in all the wrong places. He wore the stereotypical purple flannel shirt complete with the pocket full of pens and loose fitting jeans that he had no business wearing, both of which didn't suit him well. He was short, his frame small, and he probably weighed just slightly under the norm for his size. His hair style, although plain, was actually pretty normal, and it made his bright orangey-red hair stand out, but it didn't go at all with the rest of him. And, as expected with the nerd stereotype, he had a pair of glasses with frames too big for his face, but magnified the one thing that made him stand out: his deep brilliant blue eyes which, like his hair, did not fit with the rest of him. "Who names their kid Frank? Seriously! He doesn't even look like one! Satoshi is far better suiting!"

Frank immediately sent a glare of death his way. "Shut up, Ivan!"

"Well, it is!"

Chuckling, the older of his friends who was playing paused the game so that if he got distracted, he wouldn't screw up. "Easy there, little brother, it's not like he picked the name." He was the far better looking one by far. She wouldn't go as far as to say he might be the most handsome guy at school, but he certainly wasn't hard on the eyes with that smooth medium length cropped hairstyle that framed his face. The off-white blond color of his hair went well with his sunkissed skin. His hazel eyes were certainly nothing compared to his nerdy little brother's, but they were so warm and charming that it could melt any unsuspecting girl. Unlike his brother or Frank, his sense of fashion was actually quite normal, with the typical black white-beater shirt, a well fitting pair of jeans, and a pair of combat boots to go with it. Ok maybe that last part wasn't so normal, but also unlike the two, his heart was more of silver than gold. It wasn't that it wasn't in the right place, it was just that he was a just bit egotistic –ok, a lot- which made the charm not as effective. She wasn't sure why the girls threw themselves at him. He was nothing special at all.

"But isn't it true, Everette?" Ivan went on even despite being told to shut the hell up. He was the kind of person who could just keep going on so long about a subject that he could literally write a whole book about it.

"Ivan I said shut up!"

Kya smirked to herself as they argued. Her diversion plan had worked. Now all she had to do was figure out what she wanted from the kitchen that was satisfying. And then she saw it. There, sitting pretty on the counter, was the freshly made sushi that Azumi had made earlier. She'd already had some, but her mother had denied her seconds unjustly, so there was no reason she couldn't help herself now. Well, there was, but looking at that beautiful set of food made all reason fly out the window.

Grabbing a plate full and taking only a little under half of what was there, she made it passed the living room and up about 3 steps of the flight of stairs to the upper floor of the house when she heard Frank call out to her again.

"Kya, I thought mom said no to seconds?"

She heaved a sigh and tried to play it off like she hadn't heard him, but she only made it up about 5 more steps before his voice reached her again.

"Kya! I know you heard me!"

"What was that, I'm sorry?" She replied as she stuffed her face, still climbing the last 9 steps.

When she didn't hear a response, she assumed he gave up and continued toward her bedroom, quickening her pace in case she assumed wrong, which she quickly learned was once she picked up on the sound of angry foot falls following behind her. Rolling her eyes, she ignored this, choosing to again pretend like she suspected nothing and arrived in her room, placing the plate on her night stand before she had to deal with the confrontation presenting itself to her. Nothing she couldn't handle.

"Look, Frank." She said in Japanese, standing in his way at the door. Wasn't it normal between siblings to not want them in your room? "You know I'm fine and mom is over reacting, so why are you doing the same thing? It's not like my life is in danger."

He facepalmed and looked her in the eye boldly not with anger, but with resoluteness, his reply in Japanese as well. "I know that, we all do, but you really scared all of us today. Could you at least pretend for a few days? There's no way mom's gonna believe your ok yet, and I'm sure you know that too."

Kya groaned. "I know... God, I wish she would take it easy already. It's only been 21 years and I've never even come close to death ever, even in that car crash."

"Mom's never gonna fully get over that one either." Frank cracked a smile. "She's had it hard this week. Just do this one thing for her, would you?"

"Heh, you know I'm not a patient person." She had to laugh at his suggestion, and they both knew she was right. "I belong in the fast lane, not with the slow as hell people. And also, I have a midterm to take at college Friday. I can't sit here and miss that. However... I suppose you have a point."

"Mom's tougher on you than me sometimes, but you've always been the wild one."

"And you're the family grease monkey."

"I'm an engineer, not a car guy!"

"But you're good with cars."

"I'm good with all sorts of things!"

This time she cracked a smile, and then made a move to close suggest she was ready to close the door, hoping he would finally leave her alone. "In any case, I'll try, but I make no promises."

He bought it, but she was pretty she he got the message before that. "Thanks, one-san. Goodnight."

"Night, oto-chan."

Once he walked away, she closed her door and changed for the night. Plopping down on her bed with her laptop as she continued stuffing her face, she sighed, knowing that she had said she would make an attempt to follow Frank's advice, but it was going to be difficult to stick to it. She put on a movie on her computer and attempted to keep herself busy, but only 20 minutes into it she felt itchy about the whole sit-still-for-a-few-days plan. There was only so much sitting still she could take. It wasn't long before she found herself back down stairs looking for something to drink.

She noticed that Frank had noticed, but didn't seem to want to say anything, probably believing that they had an understanding, which she was afraid they might not. She hadn't forgotten that she was in her sleepwear, but she didn't much care as it wasn't horribly revealing. She usually lounged around in a white spaghetti strapped shirt with a built-in bra and the logo for her favorite soccer team across the front, a red button up satin blouse, and a pair of thin satin black pants and a pair of white socks, and that was what she wore when she wasn't sleeping. But she knew how some guys might find this hot nonetheless. Despite that however, she just couldn't bring herself to care...

Until, as she was looking in the fridge again, Everettee came into the kitchen and joined her by looking over her shoulder, almost as if to hint at some sort of desire for some intimate moment with her. "You sure you're supposed to be up and walking right now? The whole family is worried about you and your own brother just told you to get back in bed, didn't he? Such a stubborn girl." His voice was soft, that charm warming his tone, a girl grabber if there ever was one, but only for dumb chicks. No amount of tenderness could conceal the sound of conceit.

Not at all surprised, caught off guard, or even flustered by this, but very much disgusted, she simply sighed, rolled her eyes, and shook her head all at once. "Too close, Eve, I keep telling you. Do you _want_ me to drop kick you in the balls again? Cause I can do that, in fact I'd be glad to oblige to your request."

As if the memory of what she had done to him the first time he tried to hit on her was vivid and painful enough, he backed off immediately at the mention. "Fair enough. But really, shouldn't you be in bed resting? I saw how Miss Brogan was acting. She was pretty worked up."

"She's _always_ worked up when I get hurt, but it's never anything to actually freak out about." Kya corrected him as she selected her favorite orange n' cream soda to drink. "I would assume you've been Frank's friend long enough to know that by now." She closed the refrigerator and opened up the cabinet above the stove that held all the cups and glasses and reached for one.

"That's true, and I'm sure you can take care of yourself just fine." He closed in again and leaned an elbow on the counter so that he was looking up at her, a clever trick designed to charm unsuspecting women.

But Kya was far too smart for that. She didn't even spare him a small sideways glance, ignoring him without much effort. "I'm sure you know that well by now." She only turned to him once she had her drink prepared and took a sip of it first. "By the way, Everette, you should really think twice."

"About what?" He asked as he stared at her with those charming eyes, not really thinking about what she was saying as he admired her. He was either really of the belief that he had her now or he was really hoping he did.

"Hitting on a girl who can kick your ass easily." She glared daggers at him, daring him to continue his little scheme. "I know your tricks, you pulled them on Kirsi. Luckily, she had me to see right through it and save her. I guess I should at least break the news to you... your really not as good looking as you think you are."

He raised a brow as if he didn't understand where she was going with this. "What are you talking about?"

"Then let me put it in terms that your small male brain can understand: The main character of Ninja assassin is hotter than you." She said it quite smoothly, in which she put quite a bit of pride, especially when she got the exact reaction she was hoping for.

He looked extremely confused. "Wha-? What-?" She could see his brain working, trying to figure out what that meant. He had heard of the movie title, but he had no idea what it involved besides ninjas. And of course, who could possibly as good looking or more so than he? However, she wasn't about to wait up for him as he tried to catch up.

"While you figure that out, I'm going to bed. Tell Frank and Ivan good night for me!" And with that, she headed back into her room, deciding that was it for the night... at least until everyone was in bed.

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"Hey, Satoshi! Why is your sister so closed minded?"

Frank looked up and saw Everette returning to the couch with him and Ivan. The older boy was coming back from the kitchen where he had attempted another pass on Kya, which had failed, like all of his many other attempts. Frank sighed at him. "Because she knows what you like to do with the women you date, moron. If you think you know her so well, then you should know by now that if you hurt one of her friends, especially the one she's closest to, you'll never have a chance with her. Ever."

"What are you talking about?" Everett stormed back to his spot and restarted the game of Grand Theft Auto they were playing. "That Kirsi Arawn was a horrible girlfriend!"

"You mean because she dumped you after Kya proved to her that you were going to throw her away once you got her in bed?" Ivan glared at his older brother. Even if he was a giant nerd and looked the part, even he disapproved of his brother's way of handling women.

"What?" Everett glared back at him, almost causing him to lose the whole game.

Frank stayed out of it. As the two continued to argue about how a woman should be handled, he shook his head at them and took the controls from Everett so that they wouldn't lose the game, but continued sitting between them so that they wouldn't get into a wrestling match that Ivan would most likely lose… with some serious injuries. He never got in the way of their brotherly quarrels. The last time he did so, it ended up being a huge fight between all three of them, which was something he would rather avoid at all costs. It had not been fun. Not because he missed Everett, but because the older boy was a jock, the captain of the high school Baseball team, and being targeted by a jock… well… that never boded well. Why he hung out with these two? Even he couldn't answer that, but he did know that even if he wasn't a womanizing jerk, Everett was and would always be WAY out of Kya's league.

Kya was the type of girl tomboy who preferred manly sports, or what she considered a man's sport, such as wrestling, football, and soccer. A guy like Everett who played baseball was considered unmanly to her, especially if they couldn't keep up with her in her own game. That and she had just become a sophomore in college. Everett was still a junior in high school. Oh, and he had tried to play his horrible game on her BFF. That was why he had no chance in hell with her.

As it got later, he was glad it was a Friday. He had already finished all his homework for the weekend -his mother wouldn't let him be if he didn't- and so he didn't have to worry about more until Monday. Everette and Ivan were also spending the weekend at his house so that they could work on the self-appointed project they had planned: a cosplay party for Frank's birthday. They had already gone through the surprise part of it, but instead of putting it on the exact day that he turned 18, they did it a month before, so that they could plan everything with him every weekend they had together. In fact, it was getting close to bedtime, so he turned the console off and turned the attention from women to his birthday, which set them both straight.

"So what kind of theme do you want, Satoshi?" Ivan asked as they set up the living room with the plans.

"Don't pick anime, ok? That's lame," Everett goaded, "Go with something like Demon's Souls or... Ninja Assassin!"

Frank gave him a dead-pan expression, having clearly heard the conversation in the kitchen with Kya. "Eve... you don't even know what that is, and last time I checked, a gaming cosplay and movie cosplay is just as lame as anime cosplay."

Everett stared back a moment, as if trying to make up something in his head that would sound like he actually did know what it was, but before he could get whatever he had planned at the last second out, Ivan interrupted, his seemingly unlimited brain space filled with information both useless and useful.

"I've never seen it either, but even I know that it's a movie depicting ninjas like monsters in a horror survival film. The movie consists of two main characters, the first being Mika, played by actress Naomie Harris, but the real star of the film is Raizo, played by the Asian actor Rain, always popular with his ever growing base of fangirls." He proceeded to surf the internet on his smart phone and pulled up a picture of the movie and of the actor himself and showed it to his brother. "This is what he looks like, shirt on and shirt off, in movie and out. I think you can see why girls would gush over a guy like that. He's like an Asian Brad Pitt. Nothing you can compete with, Eve."

With all this information, Everett cursed and almost broke Ivan's phone, which got him a slap on the back of the head and a cursing back.

"Don't choose either of those things, Satoshi!" Ivan announced with a glare his brother's way. "Choose Harry Potter! Or, or! Or D&D! That would be cool!"

"You've got to be kidding. Only a geek would choose something like that." Everett said nonchalantly, staring at Ivan like the younger boy was dead to him just for saying that.

"Uhm, I AM a geek?" Ivan retorted, unmoved by his brother's statement. "And besides, you'd be surprised how many non-geeks like Demon's Souls, oh brother of mine. OHHHH BUUURN! Who's the nerd now? HAHAHA!"

Throughout the whole argument, Frank had been thinking hard on the subject, ignoring both of them, and just as Everett was about to pound his little brother for his comment, Frank came upon his choice and blurted it out, silencing them both. "BRUTAL LEGEND!"

Both boys stared at him, Ivan locked in Everett's neck lock and Everett with fist poised in the air for a noogie, but both were on pause as they gapped, knowing what he was talking about but still in shock.

"Brutal what?" Asked Everett. Having never played the game and only ever seen Frank play it once or twice, he had no real idea of what Brutal Legend was.

"Why that game?" Ivan inquired as he removed himself from his brother's grip while Everett was unsuspecting. He knew what it was, being a pro-gamer and a computer hacker, which was where Frank had learned most of his computer skills.

"Well, because everything in it is based on music." Frank answered. "We could have people come dressed in costumes not just mimicking the characters, but stylized after their own favorite music. It's either that or just let people come as the please and... well... I'm pretty sure that most people would come as their favorite anime character."

Everett and Ivan shared a grimace. It wasn't that anime was horrible, just that there was far too much of it, and they were sick to death of it already. Frank on the other hand was a closet anime and manga fan, both brothers new that, but he wasn't obsessive over it. He hadn't seen everything there was to see, and most of what he knew of wasn't extremely popular. Instead of Naruto or Rurouni Kenshin, he liked things like The Twelve Kingdoms or Nabari No Ou, or Kya Kara Maoh. He did like some of the popular things though, such as Eureka 7, Fullmetal Alchemist, Ninja Scroll, and Ghost in a Shell.

"Why not just tell them to just come as their own character?" Said a voice from the hallway.

They all looked up to see Kirsi in her long purple satin night gown come out of the bathroom. She approached them from the shadows and leaned on the couch to look at the plans they had drawn out, being careful Frank noticed to lean the farthest away from Everett and closest to Ivan.

"But that would just encourage them to use their fanmade anime characters and just... ugh." Everett grimaced. He almost looked like he might puke from the idea.

"What's wrong with that?" Kirsi reluctantly replied in a disinterested tone, avoiding even looking at him.

Frank also noticed Ivan blushing bright red, since her breasts, which were barely covered by her nighty, were so close to his head that he could literally rest his head on them if he wanted to, and he had to stare blankly at his own arm to avoid even thinking of doing so. Now Frank knew she was no slut, she was just not always conscious of herself. This did put her slightly under the blonde stereotype, but she was actually a fairly smart girl. She was in some of Kya's college classes, though she was still a freshmen fresh out of high school, and though she was somewhat on the religious-spiritual side, she was pretty good at mathematics, game designing, fashion and writing, and she was very interested in culture, especially the Japanese kind, which was why she hung out at the Brogan household often. She could be seen spending just as much time with their mother as she did with Kya. The only reason he could think of that Kirsi and Kya could have become such close friends was because of Kirsi being... well, Kirsi.

"I suppose it's not a bad thing..." Frank said, purposefully avoiding mentioning everything that came to his attention so easily. He was far too observant for his own good sometimes, and he had already learned why. "It's just that not everyone likes anime and this might prompt some people not to come. We want to do something that everyone will like."

Kirsi gave Frank a very warm older sororal smile as she turned to look at them, still avoiding letting her eyes even stray onto Everett's form. "If that's the case, then a theme like the one you've already thought of is good, come in a costume designed after your favorite music genre. Just make it clear that anything that looks like a character already made up in the media that fits the part is cheating, and anyone who cheats gets thrown out!"

Frank blinked a few times at first, but he had to smile back, finding her suggestion to be a good one as usual. "The voice of reason as always, Kirsi."

She seemed almost insulted that he had called her by her name. However, instead of getting upset, she took on a firm almost motherly tone and looked at him with that matured silver gaze. "Now, Sato-kun, I keep telling you, call me one-chan! One-chan!" She scolded him gently. She then turned away and sighed. "Oh, but I have no right to force myself into your family, do I? What kind of girl would take advantage of such a gracious family like that? Oh, I'm sorry, Sato-kun, dear, you can call me what you wish."

"Uh, its ok, Kir- er, One-chan, really..." Frank couldn't help but notice how stiff Ivan had become, and when he went to look, he noticed the reason why. One of Kirsi's medium sized breasts had plopped themselves on top of Ivan's head, which made him tense and shiver with what Frank assumed was that familiar tingle of manhood when a woman made such a move on a boy so unversed in the ways of sex. Frank was sure there was going to be an erection soon. He wasn't sure if Kirsi was doing it on purpose or not, but either way, he had to feel sorry for Ivan. "I, uh... already accept you as another older sister."

It seemed that calling her by the requested title and telling her that he accepted her as such made her very happy, because she gave a little blush and a soft squeak of appreciation that he would oblige so willingly. He could understand why, but he really had already accepted her as another older sister, and certainly a better one than Kya, not that he didn't love his half-sister.

"Thank you, Sato-kun," she said sweetly, beaming warmly at him and patting him on the head, "It makes me very happy to hear that. Good night, boys, and Early Happy Birthday, Sato-kun. I hope all your plans come out well." As she walked back upstairs to Kya's room after they said good night and he said his thanks, it was very clear that her words were in no way applied to Everette, only himself and Ivan, simply by the way that she gave him only a short glare as she left the room, but otherwise avoided any sort of eye contact with Everette at all.

"Man, whatever happened between you two, she is REALLY pissed off." Frank said as he turned back to write down her idea on their list of plans.

Everette made no reply, as though he was keeping up the act that she didn't exist either. "Hey, don't write what she said down!"

"Sorry, Eve, but that's not for you to decide." He smirked at the older boy, knowing that he was right and that he deserved the treatment he was getting from Kirsi, but he was not going to tell him that. "It's my birthday plans after all. Whatever I say goes."

As Everette humphed and left the room to go cool down, Frank turned to Ivan and noticed that the predicted erection was present, along with a small dribble of drool on his chin. Frank shook his head. "Pull yourself together, man." He grabbed a tissue and wiped his chin as the younger boy began to ramble.

"She... she... touched me with her BOOB! What... what does that mean, Satoshi? D-Does... does she like me? D-Do I even have a chance with her? How old is she anyway? What am I saying, she's way too old for me, she's in college! And I'm... just a lowly junior who skipped the second grade... Oh, god, but older women are so hot...! Is it a crime to like older women? Am I going to hell, Satoshi? OH GOD I'M GOING TO HELL WHAT DO I DOOOOO?"

Frank sighed and tried to hold his laughter in. He knew Ivan was over reacting, but he had also been in his shoes once. So once he had himself under control and could talk with a straight face, he looked at Ivan and spoke as many words of wisdom as he could pull out of his ass. "Look, Ivan, you're not going to hell. It's perfectly normal to feel this way. Even I will admit that Kirsi is hot, although she's no Halli Berry, and I only consider her a sister. She's the type of girl who looks at a guy and sees the person, not how good they look or if they wear the latest fashion. And actually, I think she's fresh out of high school which means... you might have a chance with her. If you want to pursue a relationship with her, I'd say go for it." Well, he wasn't as good as Kirsi was, but at least he could say he was learning from her.

But even if he was as good as she was with words of wisdom, it wouldn't be good enough for Ivan. "But I'm the nerdy little brother of Everette Ferren! And there's no way I'm even close to being in her league... It's hopeless, Satoshi... I have no chance at all... none..." And with that, he curled into the futile position, fell over and just laid there sobbing.

Frank sighed. "Look, if you need to use the bathroom, just go, but use the one in my room. You can use the magazines I stole from dad's stash." It wasn't something he would normally have said, but he let the invitation sink in as he left Ivan to lay there, knowing that the younger boy would take the offer, and it wasn't long before he was up and gone before Frank could tell him to just go already. He shook his head and continued making plans by himself, trying not to think about what was going on in his bathroom right now.

* * *

...**Yeah… hope that last part wasn't too awkward… it was meant to be funny but somehow I don't think it leaves that impression… But isn't Ivan just so damn cute? X3**

**Anyways, like I said before, please help me out and let me know what you think in a review.**


	3. Chapter 2: On to a New World!

**Bear with me if things are slow right now, like I said I'm fleshing out the characters and how life was before they were both zapped into another world. It shouldn't be long now, though. I've got just about all the main characters down this chapter, so it should start next chapter, or even this chapter, not sure yet but we shall see.**

**Also… please try not to get mad at my incompetence in the law profession. I'm really bad at it ^^'… I'm also bad at politics…. Just warning you now…**

**Chapter 2**

_**Hidden Secrets**_

Richard sighed. Another beautiful morning... ruined, by idiotic people who thought they knew it all. Being a police officer was seriously not all it was cut out to be. It took dedication, drive, and... Lots of stamina and patience to deal with people who apparently didn't want to be saved.

"I'm being _sued_?" He said in disbelief, staring into the face of a young man in his late twenties and nearing the middle age mark, his vocation of lawyer evident by the formal earth brown suit he was donning. His auburn hair was carefully groomed into a short orthodox cut, his blue eyes dark and calm with that professional air of the expert in handling difficult situations. He was of a medium frame size, skin a medium tan, wore contacts when on business, and was of noble blood, though he wouldn't admit it to just anyone. With a 5'4 height and a baby face any girl would love, he wasn't very intimidating. Even so, anyone who looked at him and saw the expensive suit, the briefcase, the few classy accessories of choice, and especially the badge with his family crest that he never wore unless on duty would automatically know who he was and back the hell off. Anyone who didn't was sure to face consequences even the man himself wouldn't wish upon them.

"I'm sorry to say, that someone filed this report regarding your work yesterday." He replied, handing to Richard a piece of paper documenting the idiot who thought he had done a horrible job. "Apparently... the murder's parents were so stricken with grief to hear of his death that they had to file a lawsuit to find closure. They of course believe in their son's innocence."

"For Christ's sake..." Richard said as he took the document and looked it over. It was amazing how important one piece of paper with print all over it could be. When he saw how much he was being sued for, his breath caught. Was he seeing right? "100,000 in cash?"

"That was the maximum they allowed him to charge, and he took full advantage of it, as you can see." The lawyer said, his reserved expression calm and sympathetic.

Richard shook his head. It was sad enough that he had to shoot the poor bastard simply because he was too far gone, but to have to deal with his grieving parents like this... "Is there any way to get out of this, Mr. Gardale?"

The lawyer shrugged his shoulders, a very smooth and small action that was almost unnoticeable. "I've been fighting them on it tooth and nail, but they haven't given up yet. Fortunately, there are a few things that people this upset forget to take into account. They cannot sue you on these grounds, Richard."

With a deep sigh, both of relief and dismay, Richard set the paper on the table and took a sip of the coffee he had ordered. Sitting in a busy restaurant just across from the law office he worked at, still on his break having let Azumi know ahead of time that she would have one less mouth to cook for today, he looked to the young man with an expression of gratitude. "Thanks, David. For a lawyer so young, you've gotten quite good at this, a life saver in fact. No wonder my wife's ex-husband hired you."

David simply smiled that professional smile he had perfected over the years of training, but for Richard, it wasn't a fake smile, it was genuine. "Trust me... my family has had me training since birth."

"It's a wonder you don't hate it." Richard replied, polishing off the numerous plates and bowls of food he had ordered.

David chuckled, a sound about as composed as his hair. "I've always had a kind of fondness for my family's line of work." He wasn't surprised at all but amused as he witnessed the older man devour about five meals. "It's a wonder you don't get sick eating so much."

Richard swallowed and washed it down with another sip of coffee before he laughed heartily at the young lawyer. "My whole family eats this way, haven't you learned by now?"

"Oh, I know," David laughed with him, ever in professional mode in public, "I've been invited to have dinner with your family before, and I must say the eating habits you all have are voracious to say the least. I'm not sure how any normal human being could eat that much. Especially your daughter, if that's not being too bold."

"Even if it is, it's the truth!" The older man said as he gulped the last of his brunch down. David was already used to his eating habits, but being in a restaurant, formal or not, forced Richard to attempt to appear civilized as he ate. Five was not the same amount that he always ate at home. "That girl can scarf about six more plates than I can, and we both know why."

David's smile faded a little as he remembered how the sweet little girl he knew had grown to become rowdy, rough around the edges, and pained by her father's disappearance. "How is Kya holding up, anyway? I haven't found any clues at all as to Alan's whereabouts... have you found anything on your end?"

The inquiry took out Richard's momentary food high as he thought about the injustice of a father and daughter who had been so close being ripped apart. Kya still thought that Alan had abandoned her, and that had put a lot of pain and stress on her childhood and teen years, and she was still holding that grudge today at 21. She was now old enough that he couldn't tell her not to drink anymore.

She had refused to accept Richard when they first met under the belief that he was trying to replace her father, declaring that she didn't want another daddy nor did she want another man in her life at all. Of course, this had never been his intention. He had married Azumi knowing that being a stepfather was a big step down from being a child's actual father, so he had expected this kind of reaction. Even so, all he wanted was for her to be happy. Wouldn't any father, in law or in blood? Eventually, she did accept him, even warmed up to calling him dad, and they had grown close. That had given him permission to sire Frank with Azumi. Again it had taken her a while to accept a brother, but as a tiny faultless baby, it had been easier for Frank to worm his way into her heart. However, it was disheartening to see that Kya refused boys altogether because of her father's disappearance. The girl had gone though rocky relationships looking for love in all the wrong places until she had given up all together. The drama of it all was exhausting for everyone.

Sighing as he looked at his watch, realizing it was time to get back to work, he looked to David with a nod and stood up. "I'm sorry, David, I've got nothing on my end, but Kya is still doing as well as anyone in her position can. We had a bit of trouble yesterday, but Fhenise was able to clear that right up with her... Fhenise-ness."

David gave a weak smile and stood with him. "Well, we will keep searching then. A man can't just disappear into thin air, there's got to be a clue out there somewhere that we're both over looking."

"We'll find him, don't worry. But I have to go for now. I'll see you later, Mr. Gardale, and thanks again for your help." Richard said, shaking David's hand, and the two said their goodbyes and parted ways for the time being.

Nothing extremely eventful happened that day and he got no further in his search for Alan than he had in 14 years. He decided not to let Azumi in on the law suit until he was sure of the situation. No need to alarm her before things actually got serious. She was stressed enough as it was.

When he got home, he found the house smelled good. Azumi was cooking something wonderful for dinner again. "Honey, I'm-!" He exclaimed as he hung up his coat and walked into the kitchen where he found her beautiful form from the back. He stood back and admired it before he entered the kitchen and wrapped his arms around her from behind. "What _is_ that divine smell, darling?"

She didn't even jump at his presence. In fact, she moved with and molded into him as he pressed his body into hers, and turned her face to meet his in a greeting kiss. "The family favorite, of course." She purred, her dark eyes staring into his with a loving passion that was familiar to him. She left the stove for a moment and turned around in his arms to face him. At the same time, they moved away from the heat to the cold marble counter so that he could half bend her over it in a passionate kiss that said he missed her company greatly all day. When they surfaced for air, she came away breathless, face a soft red, and stared into his eyes again. "...Welcome home, dear."

"I can still make you blush even after 16 years. Yep, I've still got it." He grinned down at her frame and buried his face in her chest, taking in the scent of her, and felt her wrap her arms around his neck. He never missed coming home to a loving wife who had missed him just as much even after so many years together. Most relationships died after only 3-5 short years, but theirs was still there even after 18 years. A rare occurrence they were both glad for, as were their children.

He didn't see her grin down coyly at him, keeping one eye out for any approaching young adults, and corrected in a soft sultry voice, "You mean _we've_ still got it."

He nodded without reply, taking in a few more long deep breaths of her, basking in her radiance and holding her tightly to him. He trusted her to warn him if any of the kids came into the room, but he was honestly just glad that she would let him be so close to her even with children in the proximity. She was good like that. He couldn't wait until he could get her in the bed room later... and let her have her way with him.

"Rich, I've missed you too, but you could at least wait until tonight to do that kind of thing." She said softly, a smirk in her tone. "I still have food cooking on the oven, you know." He still didn't answer, but she allowed him a few more minutes to enjoy her chest before she asked the big question. "...I don't suppose you found anything on Alan yet... have you?" She felt him shake his head and sighed. Staying that way for another minute or two, she gasped when she suddenly felt his hands stray on to her backside and give it a squeeze, which earned him slap on the head in response, but even so, she was still smirking. "None of that till the kids are in bed."

He was aware of that, but holding back was just so difficult sometimes. He removed his face from her breasts and kissed her again with a coy grin, almost bending her over the counter again, but this time she fought back in the kiss, almost bending him backwards and making him fall over. It was then that he felt her pinch him hard on the arm, which signaled a child coming in the room. "Ouch!" He yelped and backed off, hoping he did so fast enough that they didn't get caught.

"Nice, dad. Bending mom over the counter again, I see." Said Frank as he entered the room, which told Richard he had failed.

"Ugh, Frank, don't say things like that, that's disgusting! Besides, they weren't doing that at all." Kya retorted as she followed Frank, which hinted that he might not have blown it after all.

Richard straightened himself and turned toward the children, glancing at Azumi for a clue as to how he did. She gave a quick nod, telling him he didn't fail miserably, and he sighed in relief. "We were just horsing around, Frank. Your mother is almost done with dinner, and I know that the Ferren boys are staying all weekend. Kya, is Kirsi staying another night?"

"She's sleeping over all week, remember? School project ring any bells?" Kya answered as she went to grab a drink from the fridge.

"I've already taken that into account, honey." Azumi smiled at him as she went back to tending to the food.

"Oh, right..." He cleared his throat, trying to regain his dignity in front of his children.

Frank laughed at Richard as if even though he hadn't seen anything, he still knew what they were doing and didn't mind. He was a smart boy, an odd one, but smart nonetheless, and he couldn't love him more for not caring if he knew his parents were sexually active. Of course... that had to come from accepting the fact _after_ accidentally walking in on them going at it when he was much younger. Kya had been far more fortunate. As had she had just demonstrated, she still had that healthy habit of being totally disgusted by even the smallest inkling of her parents having sex.

"Mom, is the soda gone?" Kya said suddenly as she searched the fridge high and low for a few minutes, Frank complaining behind her for his turn, but found nothing.

"It should be there, sweety." Azumi replied. "You know I don't drink pop at all so I haven't touched it."

Richard jumped in immediately so that she wouldn't automatically look to him as the culprit as she tended to do. "I don't like the kind you like, so don't look at me.

Instead, it was Frank her angry gaze launched to, but he reacted calmly and shook his head. "Hey, I don't drink soda anymore, remember? Not after that incident at Disneyland 4 years ago. I'm still obsessed with being hydrated all the time. Water is what I'm after right now."

Kya growled in frustration. "Then there are only two other people in this house who would have taken it, cause I know Kirsi wouldn't do this to me." And with that, she stormed out of the kitchen to go interrogate Ivan and Everette, who were in the living room playing games to pass the time until dinner.

Frank cringed and moved out of her way quickly as she stomped passed. "Man, I feel sorry for Everette..." He murmured very quietly as he at last took his turn to search the fridge for the water he'd stood there wanting for about three minutes.

It wasn't long before forceful shouting could be heard from the living room between Everette and Kya, the two most high strung people under the Brogan roof. Husband, wife and son all shared a look and stayed where they were. Out of sight, Ivan averted his gaze and scooted away, and Kirsi watched the scene from upstairs without interfering. All of them preferred not to get in the way when the sparks flew. It was actually over faster than they had all anticipated. Everette had given in and taken his beating, and they all heard Kya storm out of the house to go buy more of her soda, muttering and grumbling very loudly something about needing a fridge of her own in her room before the door slammed behind her.

Azumi sighed then. She couldn't just forget the sight of her baby girl in the hospital bed. She wanted her daughter to stay in bed, but she knew she couldn't keep her there, and she also knew that Kya was fine enough to still be up and walking. Maybe it was the stress of the long hours at work that was getting to her. She felt Richard put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder, and turned to continue cooking, hoping it would take her mind off the issue at hand. The one who brought her the most comfort however, was Frank.

"Don't worry so much, mom," He said, giving her a smile, "She's strong. She'll be ok. And I'm sure she'll be back in time for dinner. You'll only have to worry about getting her to wash her hands before she sits at the table." And then he walked out of the room to go make sure his friend was still alive.

Knowing that he was right, she took it to heart, and with it in mind, she was able to laugh again with Richard as she set up the table for dinner. She had Frank put the dog outside for the duration of the meal, and they never had to worry about the four cats... or the morning doves, or the ferrets, or the sugar gliders, or even the snake, the lizard, the turtle, the crabs, or the fish. Yes, that was a lot of animals and a lot of work, but the family, the guests, and the relatives all enjoyed them very much.

As Frank had predicted, Kya came back with soda in hand just in time for dinner, but she did not have to be told to wash her hands before sitting at the table. In fact, she was in a better mood when she got back, but she still gave Everette another smack on the head as she passed by. As the seven of them sat down and dinner was served, Kirsi said a quiet prayer to herself before they began to eat the giant feast that Azumi had made. Only the four family members would be able to eat all of it. The guests could only stomach a small portion, which Azumi had always had in mind when she prepared it all on her turn to cook that night.

"So, boys," Richard said to Everette and Ivan as they all dug in, sitting at one end of the table, which was across from Azumi's place at the other end, "How are the plans coming?"

"Very good, Mr. Brogan!" Ivan replied, already recovered from his inward struggles of last night. He was sitting on Frank's left, his brother on Frank's right.

Everette was silent in both anger and in fear of Kya, who despite being in a happier mood, still sent threatening glares his way, daring him to do something else to piss her off.

Frank finished swallowing before he added his own answer. "Yep! We've already decided what the theme is going to be, thanks to Kirsi."

"It was my pleasure to help a soul in need." Kirsi replied from across the table next to Kya.

Sitting by her mother, Kya smiled at Kirsi. "The helping hand of salvation as always!" She and Kirsi shared a girlish giggle that frightened Everette, making him wonder why the hell he would even think about hitting on her at all.

"And what theme is that?" Azumi asked, beaming at her son who was so close to his golden year. "I hope it's a good one."

"Oh it is!" Frank answered, and he proceeded to explain to them his plans.

After dinner, Kya went back upstairs to her room with Kirsi where the two took turns taking a shower in the bathroom in the hallway, changed for the night –Kirsi in her short violet nighty and Kya in her white spaghetti strapped shirt with the built in bra and only a pair of black underwear, any man's wet dream of a girl's sleep over– and then settled down with a movie, but they didn't end up watching it.

"You really hit him hard, you know," Kirsi was saying, "He had a black eye, a bloody nose, and I think one of his teeth chipped. Was that really necessary?"

"Well... no, but he pissed me off." Kya answered, rolling over on the bed next to Kirsi, "He should know better than to take MY stuff. Doesn't he know by now? He doesn't see anyone else drinking it without permission."

Kirsi sighed. "Kya, Kya... people can't read your mind, you know. You need to announce these things to people, not just assume they'll figure it out on their own."

"Sometimes I wish they would..." Kya said, then rolled back on her stomach. "This movie is boring, isn't it? Wanna watch something else?"

"That's because we're not watching it, silly." Kirsi laughed softly at her. She got up and turned the movie off, then came back and sat down on the bed cross-legged and looked at Kya. "How about we just talk for a while?"

Kya propped her head on her arms as she rolled over on her side and looked up at her friend. "Ok, about what?"

"How about... boys?" Kirsi suggested. She was aware that a topic like that didn't sit well with Kya, but she was an optimist, so giving it a shot anyway was her policy.

"Boys?" Kya titled her head and raised a brow as if to say 'are you serious?'

"Well, I mean..." Although seeing Kya's point, Kirsi didn't seem to want to give it up just yet, "Ivan's kinda hot... and so is your brother..."

Kya had to laugh out loud at that one. "Ivan and my brother? Ok, I can see the part about my brother, sure -ew, though- but Ivan? What smoke are you cracking?"

Kirsi laughed with her. "Alright, your right, but what about you, Kya? Anyone you fancy?"

"You know me, Kirs, I don't do boys."

"Fair enough. Ok well, what do you want to talk about?"

"Well..." Kya rolled onto her stomach again, and Kirsi forsook her sitting position to lie across the other girl, "Mind if I rant for a bit?"

"You know I'll listen." Kirsi replied with a warm smile as she started to play with Kya's hair. Many would think that the beautiful vibrant lilac blue of Kya's hair was dyed and not her natural color, but in reality, it was indeed her true color. Long, straight with a slight natural wave, it almost just reached the small of her back, but this was what it was like when she let it down. Normally, it was always tied into thick locks and put up into a ponytail with a single loop.

And so Kya went on a ramble about what a douche bag Everette was for hitting on her, stealing her things without permission, and for hurting Kirsi in the unjust way he had. She had to admit some very ugly things came out of her mouth, but even Kirsi would agree it was for good reason. Why Frank hung out with a jerk like that, neither of them would know. By the end of it, however, Kirsi had her laughing and they started a completely different subject, and by playing with her hair long enough, Kya started to feel the urge to sleep rolling in. Before they could sleep, both of them in the same queen sized bed, two cats sharing it with them, there came a soft knock on the door.

"Come in." Kirsi answered in a small voice, trying not to shock Kya awake.

The door opened to reveal Azumi, who was already in her short black nighty. When she saw them, she smiled sweetly. "Oh, look at you two, you're so cute together."

Kya sat up, mind fogged by sleep, trying not to disturb the cats as she did. "What's up, mom?"

"I was going to tuck you girls in, but it looks like you already did that yourselves." Azumi said as she closed the door a little behind her and came to the bedside, sitting down beside Kya.

"You still can." Kirsi chirped as she laid back down, pulling the covers back over her as if inviting Azumi to do so.

"No, you don't." Kya was not quite as eager for it to happen. "Your checking up on me again, aren't you?"

Azumi smiled forlornly at her daughter, reaching out to stroke her cheek, which Kya allowed. "I'm sorry, I know I worry too much. It must be stifling for you, I know you're like me, you can't sit still for long." But then her expression changed into a sly one, as though noticing the look on Kya's face, one that spoke perhaps of relief that she had not been found out. Oh, but that was not the case at all. "Oh, and no, that's not the only thing I'm here for. I was just going downstairs to check on the boys and take my stress pills, and as I went into the fridge to get a glass of water, what did I notice? Yes, that's right, a little rat seems to have gotten into the left over sushi I made tonight. Hmmm, I wonder who it could have been...?"

"The sushi monster?" Kirsi interjected with a giggle.

Kya tried not to let the deflation at those words show, but it wasn't working out as well as she hoped. "Well... it... wasn't me... Must've been Everette, that rat bastard..."

"Kya." Azumi said sternly, her tone changing from gentle mother to stern and commanding, the vibe of an authority figure, one that Kya was so familiar with that she dreaded the tell tale expression that went along with it. "I specifically told you no seconds for a reason."

Kya cringed at the sound of that tone, but she held her ground. "Punishment for getting hurt doing stupid things again, making everyone worry, and being rude to the nurses, I know. The usual thing whenever this happens. No internet, no phone, no TV, only movies, no friends over –except Kirsi because she's over for a school project- and go straight to bed after all homework is done for a week. But mom, you realize I'm 21, right? I don't have to listen to every single thing you say anymore. And you know that I'm so used to this now that it's like a piece of cake. And also, withholding food from an injured person? Need I say more?"

"Yes, I'm well aware, honey, but remember, you may help with what contribution of your paycheck you can give, but you don't own the house you live under. I do. So whose orders do you have to follow?"

"Mom, seriously, I'm not 16 anymore!"

"Honey." Again with the stern voice.

Kya heaved a sigh, but she refused to dignify the question with words as an answer, so she settled for rolling her eyes and directing her gaze elsewhere in the room while one hand gestured toward Azumi.

"That's right. But you do have a point. I can't control you as severely as I once could when you were 16. So I suppose I can't hold you entirely to that punishment, but please, Kya, at least adhere to some of it. Out of respect for your mother, perhaps?"

As she struggled with some sort of further protest, she realized she couldn't argue with Azumi's honesty, especially with the previous apology hanging in the air. So instead, she opted for a different route. "Yes, mom... And fine, you can tuck us in, but you know we're too old for this, right?"

There was a twinkle in Azumi's warm dark brown eyes as she proceeded to tuck them both in tightly like any loving mother. "You're never too old in my eyes, Kya. You will always be my little baby girl. And Kirsi has become part of the family too of course."

"Yatta!" Kirsi exclaimed softly, making both Kya and Azumi laugh.

Once she was done and they said good night, she kissed both girls on the forehead, turned out the lights, and closed the door gently behind her, leaving both Kirsi and Kya to their respective dreamlands. It was about 3am when Kya was woken up very abruptly from an odd dream about… intelligent chickens that could work highly advanced technology?

"Kya..." Kirsi was whimpering beside her, shaking her awake. "Kya! Please wake up!" She gasped and Kya felt her pause for a moment, but at first Kya couldn't determine why.

During that pause, still deep under the haze of sleep, Kya looked at the clock on her night stand and turned over to look at Kirsi, eyes half open. "Do you realize what time it is...? Its 3:00 in the morning…"

Kirsi turned back to her with a frantic look in her silver eyes. "Do you hear that? I think someone might be trying to break into the house!" She gasped again and then grabbed onto Kya and clung tight like a frightened child to her mother, whimpering prayers to God and the angels.

Kya somehow found room to stretch and rub the sleep from her eyes and sat up. "What are you talking abou-?" But then she heard it. A loud but muffled THUNK. So that's what had Kirsi so upset. "...Stay here." She made a move to get up and investigate, reaching for something –anything– she could use as a weapon in defense, but Kirsi refused to let her go.

"No, please don't go! Don't leave me here alone!" She held on tight, her grip around the younger girls' waist so surprisingly firm that Kya actually couldn't move.

Kya turned to the older girl holding onto her and looked her in the eye. "It's ok, Kirsi. The only thing that can take me down is the strongest man on earth, or a tiger, which I doubt is what is down there right now. Stay here, lock the door unless you hear my voice, and keep some sort of weapon on hand at all times. Remember how I taught you to defend yourself if anything like this ever happened?"

Kirsi's mouth clamped shut, fear constricting her throat so much that words could not come. Almost on the verge of tears, she stared back at Kya, hesitant at first, but once she gathered up enough courage, she nodded, a fast bobbing motion of her head.

Once she was free again, Kya put on her favorite red satin robe and grabbed the nearest weapon in the room that she could find, handing it to Kirsi –the Sakamoto katana family heirloom, her maternal grandfather had passed it down to her mother and her mother down to her on her 18th birthday. But she was not the one who needed it most right now. "Good. Now keep the cats safe, ok? Don't let them out until I come back. And remember, you and I are the only ones with keys to this room."

"What if they try to pick the lock?" The question was barely an audible whisper as it fluttered from her mouth.

"I'll get to them before that happens, but –hypothetically– if they get me, but something up against the door, something that will block their entry, like a chair under the knob. If they try to break the door down, hide under the bed or in the closet. Ok?"

She nodded again, and Kya gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze before she grabbed for a weapon –the bigger of the two lamps she had in her room– and her set of keys before she headed for the door. Giving a nod to Kirsi, she proceeded to close and lock the door behind her. Then, with an innocent to protect out of the way, she quickly shifted from protect mode to attack mode, self defense and martial arts classes kicking in. Creeping stealthily down the hallway, she came to the staircase and scoped out what she could see of the lower floor from above, keeping hidden from view. Once she assessed that it was safe to proceed downstairs and did so cautiously, she realized that the first thunking sound she had heard had been the last one. However, as she looked around, she couldn't find any broken windows and the door wasn't broken down. How had the intruder gotten in? Unless…

It was just one of Frank's friends doing something stupid again. If they broke anything… but this was not the case, she discovered, as she came upon a broken down brick wall in the middle of the living room. What had once been thought to be just a walled off room was suddenly open, a sledge hammer that looked like it had just been used laid to the side. The THUNK THUNK sound had been someone breaking the bricks away. The only question left was who?

Instinct told her to hold her lamp ready, even though she was sure it must not be a bugler if here had been no break in. At least not into the house, just into one of its rooms. However, she still held the lamp above her head as she approached the fresh hole in the wall, a precaution in case her assumptions were wrong. She could smell the dust in the air. It was definitely a fresh break in, but as she got closer, she couldn't help but get caught up in curiosity about what was inside. It looked interesting enough, like nothing she'd ever seen in the house she'd grown up in, almost like a sorcerer's hide out...

"Kya!"

She almost dropped the lamp as she stumbled back in surprise. "Frank! What the hell is going on? Wh-What happened to the wall?" Stupid question, she knew what happened to the wall, but the heat of the moment allowed her no thinking time.

He grinned back at her, a kid in a candy store kind of grin, like he'd just found something so exciting he was going to burst unless he shared it with someone. "I happened to it! You have to see this, sis, get in here!"

She had to wonder if Kirsi had been the only one to hear the racket he had made. But then again, she had somehow slept through it until Kirsi woke her up. She turned and skimmed the visible area of the house for curious and fearful eyes. Finding none, she put the lamp down safely and turned to follow her brother inside. What else was she supposed to do at this point?

The room inside wasn't very big, it was like a medium sized extra guest bedroom, but it looked like it had been here for years. There was dust and cobwebs everywhere, but it smelled of chemicals, like years of lab experiments had seeped into the wood frame. There was a whole wall of wooden bookshelves filled with books and other objects to the left, a whole 21th century lab table and desk at the wall across from that, and front and center there was what looked like a kind of wooden altar, upon which sat an old oil lantern. It was probably something left in here that Frank had to put to good use. The place was barely lit with the dying bulb hanging from the ceiling, but the lantern didn't light the room up much either, just enough that they could make things out close up. There was no one else in there, only herself and Frank, which told her that Ivan and Everette were still asleep in their rooms. This whole crazy idea was all on her brother… lord help him when their parents found out.

"It was sealed from the inside… but there's nobody here!" He said as she entered the room, excitement quivering in his tone, still checking it out like it was the coolest thing ever, "No skeletons, no secret passages leading the way out… pretty mysterious… and kinda creepy... Man, this is so cool!"

"…Creepy is all I would say… What on earth _is_ this?" She murmured as she approached the desk area. There was a neat pile of paperwork sitting in the middle of it, like whoever had been sitting here last had expected to come back but didn't.

He shrugged and turned toward the altar, curious as to what it was used for. "Hell if I know. Maybe it's one of your father's projects."

The very mention of the man turned her mood sour. "Hm... that _guy_..." There were no other words she could use to address him. She didn't doubt that this could be a hidden room that their mother had hidden away from them, knowing that it would anger her. She took one look at the paper pile on the desk, saw nothing of interest, and then moved toward the bookshelves.

"Gone, but not forgotten, I see." He replied, too busy inspecting the altar to notice her dangerous tone.

Discovering a strange round disk-like object that appeared to be made of wood at first, but upon further inspection it appeared to be something else, it held her attention for a full two seconds before the fury returned. "Just be glad he's not _your_ dad." She tossed the object more at Frank than to him, her anger in the subject growing.

He caught the object almost like a first rate baseball player, but he noticed the force behind it and seemed to take offense to it, as though he felt she was directing her anger at him through the toss and her heated words. "Hey! Don't sass your half-brother, half-pint!"

She hmphed and turned to inspect the book titles. "Yeah, but your dad never abandoned you! Nor me, in fact..." 'And that's saying a lot' is what she wanted to add, but two book titles that read _Earth's Magic History_ and _The Caligo: History of the Medallion_ caught her attention and she lost the words.

Out of her sight, as she reached for those books, Frank was busy examining the round object she had thrown to him. Round? Made of strange material? Could fit in some sort of slot? He didn't have to look for long before he spotted an indented shape in the middle of the altar that looked the same as the object in his hands. The old oil lantern he had placed on the edge of the altar was sitting on a kind of trigger button that revealed the indentation. Bingo. Curiosity overrode caution, and he set the object in the slot. Instinctively, he pulled back as if the place might explode, but nothing happened.

"So what made you come down here and break the wall apart anyway?" Distracted by the titles, her rising anger began to melt away and she took both books off the shelf and started to look through the one about Earth first. "Some sort of 'inner knowing' as Kirs calls it?"

There was no immediate answer, but as she spoke, the object and its slot suddenly began to glow, and as Frank watched, the object lifted from the slot and started to spin gradually faster, until it began to break apart. As this happened, it was like some sort of spell had been cast on the area because a violent wind slowly picked up and began to howl through the room.

Startled by the sudden wind, Kya turned to look for an open window, but what she found was Frank staring into what appeared to be a projection of some distant wild land coming from a whirling light above the altar. She literally jumped a foot into the air and almost dropped the books she was holding.

"I dunno..." Frank said at last, but his voice was different. His tone suddenly went dark and deep, spooking Kya even more, and as he turned around to look at her, she could only stare in shock. His eyes were glowing red and he had an evil look on his face, like some evil overlord had taken over him and this was all part of some diabolical plan to rule the universe. "Just a feeling I guess..." But then Frank seemed to catch himself, because he snapped out of it, turning himself to normal, and looked horrified at himself.

"_What_ the...?" Kya didn't know what to think. She knew what to do to hide her alien condition from being discovered, but this was way out of her league. Before her mind could register any of it, the wind seemed to switch gears into a kind of vacuum, and Frank was sucked into the projection as if it were a portal. "Frank!" Instinctively, her first reaction was to go in a save him, which was the rash part of her brain thinking. And, as always, it just got her into trouble. Instead of actually saving him, she simply got sucked in as well, and the two of them were carried off to that distant wild land with no idea what to expect.

As the flame of the lantern flickered out, Kirsi could only gap in shock at what she had just seen. What _had_ she just seen? No matter how many times she went through it in her head, none of it made sense. Nothing like this should exist at all. So what-? Movement and footsteps to her right. She squealed and jumped as she whirled on the perpetrator, katana ready.

"Kirs- WHOA! Easy, I'm not the enemy, here! Just put the big butter knife down… please… where did you get that anyway?"

"Ivan...!" She saw him with his hands up defensively, and she let her sword hand drop to the side.

Relieved that she wasn't going to slice his head off, Ivan looked just as blown away by the whole event as she was, as though he had been watching over her shoulder. He looked inside the room as if making sure it never happened, but Kya and Frank were still gone. "What... what the hell just happened...?"

"I don't know..." The sword dropped from her hand and fell with a clatter to the floor. "But... Kya's gone... and so is Frank... What am I going to tell Azumi and Richard…?"

"Kirs?" He turned to see her broken down on the floor, sobbing, eyes wet, tears spilling down her cheeks. Immediately he knew what was wrong. Her best friend was gone, and they had no idea how or if she and Frank would even come back. "Kirs..." Almost as if instinct were taking over, he knelt beside her and cradled her in his arms. "It'll be ok... we'll figure this out somehow..." But truthfully, he had no idea if they ever would. All he could do was sit there hold her, trying to bring what little comfort he could.

**And there you go! Off we go into the Pocahontas version of wonderland! I think I might check back in with this world now and again, so you'll get to see these characters again, and I'll do parts where it's all in Frank's perspective on the journey, rather than all just Kya. She's great and all, but it's not all about her XD.**

**Anyways, review and tell me what you think! Its not just a great motivation, it's good to hear from fans, so don't be shy on this one, please.**


	4. Chapter 3: A Dream or Not?

**Ok, going to start with Kya this chapter, and then Frank the next. After that… well… I'm not sure… I can't predict what will come after that just yet. F****or now... let's just see what happens.**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Dreaming of the wilderness, of strange floating islands, and of a bizarre land that defied most physics.

Consciousness returning, her mind was hazed with dull pain, vision at first filled with an empty blankness... until she realized that her eyes were closed. Working her way up to it, unable to move because of pain all over, Kya could make out a noise in the background. Someone was talking. "Kirsi...? The weirdest thing just happened..." Silence. No reply, and then a language she didn't understand. Suddenly realizing that something serious must've happened, her eyes fully opened then, but she was blinded by bright rays of a golden sun for a moment. When her sight adjusted, what filled her vision made her eyes go wide. Was she drugged or something?

Whereas she had been expecting to be kidnapped by foreign people or something to that effect, instead, three big furry creatures, like a cross between a cat, a gerbil, and an ape, their bodies covered in what looked like dirty bandages, their intelligent animal-like eyes staring back at hers. Two of them sat to her left, smaller younger one with light brown fur and darker mane, bigger older one with dark gold fur and lighter mane, watching her curiously with excitement in their gaze. To her right, one with rich brown fur and a beautiful silver mane, his posture strong and firm, like that of an assertive alpha, obviously the leader here. More words she didn't understand, and what she could only conceive of as some sort of greeting her way.

On top of that, as she sat up and felt a chill, she suddenly became aware that all she was wearing was black underwear, the same white spaghetti strapped shirt she always slept in, and the red satin robe she had put on before she found Frank in that strange room. The worst part? The robe had flown open, revealing everything underneath. She must've fallen long and hit ground hard. Just great.

There was no way this was happening. Seriously! This has to be part of the dream. She just needed to lie back down and wake up, that's all. She was still tired anyway, why not take a nap? But as she let herself partially faint from the shock, another, much louder and more menacing noise was heard, jolting her awake again.

At a barking that sounded like an order from the leader, the first two creatures ran off, and the leader stopped and knelt beside her. "I know you're not actually unconscious."

Kya didn't move, hoping that it would all stop soon. Now these creatures could speak her language? What kind of dream was this?

"Come on, get up already, their coming! We're in danger if we stay here!"

Still she wouldn't move. What the hell was he talking about? What danger?

"Look, I don't have time to play games. Stay here if you want, but if you get caught, don't blame me if you find yourself covered in fur, and don't expect me to come rescue you."

Still she refused to move. He waited only a few seconds before he stood up to run for it, but a large explosion went off not far ahead, a loud one, which made her nearly jump out of her skin. Eyes popping open and bolting upright, she found herself gazing at a large wooden contraption that was spitting one bomb after another at them, and driving the damn thing were a bunch of what looked like mangy grey dog people, and they didn't look very well groomed. "What the-?" She jumped again when the creature to her left grabbed her arm.

Turning to look at him, Kya saw something flash across his face, something like a suspicion confirmed. "Come on, follow us."

He ushered her to stand, and then she found herself dragged behind him, his furry hand –or paw, whichever– still attached to her arm. The creature was fast for a rodent man. He was running at about twice the pace of the fastest human athlete. Her condition made her fast enough to easily pass the same athlete like it was normal, but this was insane. This furry little bastard was hauling ass at almost 68mph, and he was _not_ slowing down for her. Well, he wasn't little, standing up his head came up to about her shoulders, but that was still shorter than her 5'6. Oh, and how did she know he was male? Well, that was just a guess. He sure sounded male in any case.

His speed and the fact that she was still groggy, in shock, and her body was stiffened with soreness did not amount to grace, however you looked at it. She was stumbling along behind him, just struggling to stay upright and keep up. At one point, as he was pulling her along a pathway infested with tree roots, she found solid ground became increasingly more difficult until she tripped and landed on her knees. Ouch, that was painful. Falling on disheveled ground usually was, and she was pretty sure there was a rock where she landed, and now not only were her knees bleeding, her feet cut up, and her robe torn, but it felt like she might have dislocated something. She sucked in air to keep from crying out.

"Come here, close to me!" He shouted to her and forced her up again. Damn him. It was just lucky she was still able to stand at all. Maybe it was just her knee cap that dislocated.

Indignant and in a bad mood now because of the new sharp pain, she responded with "You expect me to keep you with you at this pace?"

But he was in survival mode. "For right now you have to, now get moving!"

With that, he continued to pull Kya along that path, barking orders at his men in their language as they dodged and weaved the fire from the wooden contraption. Struggling even more to keep up now, she chanced a brief glance behind her to look at what they were running from, but all she saw was the same thing. It was a group of grey dog people driving what might as well be a battle tank made from wood shooting what smelled like bombs made from gun powder. But they didn't look that dangerous at all, nothing that special, so why were they running? Couldn't they just make a plan of action, take out those mediocre beasts and just get it over with?

An animalistic cry filled the air. She turned just in time to see one of the creatures enveloped in a floating trap that looked like badly quilted leather, a kind of fan at the top which kept it in the air and propelled it toward the enemy like it was programmed to do so. The other creatures stopped only for a moment, crying out to their captured friend, but the one in trouble barked something that probably amounted to "Leave me! Go! Don't get captured for my sake!" and the others bolted without sparing a second thought. Were they that desperate to get away from these idiot beasts that they would forsake their own?

"Wait a minute!" She tried to break his grip, but he was surprisingly strong, much stronger than any human. That and her initial shock and the pain from her dislocated knee made her temporarily dependent on his support. "You can't just leave him behind!"

He fixed her with a quick look, the same stern authority her mother had, but without the maternal concern. "Please don't be one of those unreasonable people... There's no choice, we can't afford to get caught."

"Unreasonable? Those things don't look that tough. Let me go and I'll take care of them no problem." Stupid idea? That was usually how she got through life, bad situation or not. She wasn't really sure what else to do when things were this confusing, and when in doubt, her motto was to rush in head first and without a plan.

"In your state?"

"Trust me, I'm tougher when I'm unable to hold back."

At that point, he gestured to the remaining subordinate and handed her arm to the other creature. As she was dragged along into a thicket to hide in, she saw the silver haired rodent glow brightly as if he was casting a spell. The wooden tank barreled over the tree roots toward him, slowly but with determination that rivaled even her own. She attempted to dash out and take care of the situation herself, but her new bodyguard held onto her fast. She fought him hard, nearly kicking him in the face once, but somehow, despite the sudden adrenaline rush that renewed her strength, he managed to hang onto her. She turned to him to argue, but there was a gentle look in his kitten/gerbil-like eyes that made her pause in her actions, the words caught in her throat. He said something in that language she couldn't understand –apparently he couldn't speak hers like his leader could– and she had the feeling he was asking her to trust them. How could she argue with eyes that cute?

So she obeyed his wish and turned simply to watch the glow of the silver haired creature's body grow, the tank drawing nearer. It wasn't until he was staring down the barrel of the enemy tank that he suddenly released a massive explosion of energy that tossed the mammoth apparatus and smashed it against one of the giant trees like it was nothing but a rag doll. At his feet, the path fell away, leaving a giant gap with nothing but sky beneath that kept the beasts from following.

The beasts within looked battered and injured, but two still remained outside of the tank, what looked like firearms on hand. They may not be able to get across that huge gap, but they could still shoot everything in sight to death. Silver mane collapsed to his knees, breathing heavily, as though the blast had taken much of his strength. If he didn't move he was going to be shot.

She couldn't wait anymore. Without looking back at her guard, who uttered what might have been guttural words at her not to go, Kya jumped out of the thicket and grabbed silver mane, dragging him away from the edge. "If you had that kind of power before, then why the hell didn't you use it!"

He turned to her, trying to keep up as she dragged him to safety. The stern look he had had before still remained. "Because I'm not a trained master yet, I was lucky that spell didn't kill me just now."

Spells? Why not, she was talking to an animal man and running from wooden tanks. She just stared back at him, unable to really reply to that. Although she wasn't sure what he meant, she had a faint idea of what he was talking about. "...Are you ok?"

Before he could answer, the other creature came up behind them, a frantic look on his face, and then it was Kya's turn to enter survival mode. The path may have been destroyed, but the beasts on the other side still had guns and were now shooting at them relentlessly, so she hefted the silver haired creature over one shoulder and followed the subordinate as they bolted, dodging fatal hits from the laser-like bullets as they went. It wasn't until they reached a clearing bridged by half a hollowed tree trunk that they had a moment to rest that they stopped. She gently put silver mane down and let his friend tend to him. The two of them joined hands and some sort of magical healing work began as their palms began to glow. The two creatures began a conversation between themselves in their tongue, and Kya had a moment to close her robe again, covering herself up, and really take in her surroundings as she stretched her sore muscles.

The region wasn't too unfamiliar in terms of terrain; blue skies, white clouds, greenery, very big trees, and a beautiful view. But the trees were so big that their roots grew in completely unruly and exacerbated formations and in strange places. The trees seemed to grow so big that when they fell over and hollowed out, the log was as big as a small house. Everywhere she looked, strange red rabbit animals hopped around and butterflies fluttered away. Rocks formed in ways that created pathways, there seemed to be natural air vents and geysers everywhere, and the land did not stretch out for miles in every which direction. In fact, if she looked out over that precipice created when the path was formed away, there was nothing beneath, just swirling orange clouds. What kind of world was this?

But that wasn't the only thing going through her thoughts. Frank had been the one who got them in this mess. Where was he now? Was he alright? Hopefully he wasn't in deep trouble. How would they get back home, wherever home was now? What was happening back there now anyways? Everyone was probably wondering where they were, especially cause they didn't see what happened. Azumi was probably so worried she'd comatose herself. Hopefully they could make it back soon. She really didn't want to be stuck living here forever with a bunch of animal men. She didn't want to think about all that could happen here.

"Hey." She turned to see silver mane approaching her, his treatment already over. "We need to get going again."

"I have a name if you need something to call me by, and I assume you have no idea what I am. I think we're both in the same boat there." She replied as she finished stretching, but she was still sore. She must've landed hard. "And where is this, by the way? I've never seen a world so… strange."

"Here." He reached out a hand to her in offering. "From what my friends have told me, you landed pretty hard, and you look like you're feeling the soreness. Not to mention your leg injury, which looks like it hurts, and its slowing you down. I'd let my friend take care of it but he needs his energy. I may not be a master yet, and my healing powers are weak now that my power is drained -I've never really been good at it anyway- but I can still help you."

She stared at the hand for a moment, his words sinking in. "But... you needed your friend to heal you just now. Are you sure you can?"

"I wasn't hurt, just exhausted from the spell. He was giving me some of his energy so that I can still get us out of here. He gave me an ample supply with still enough for himself so he can't waste any more of his. This will not take much, but I won't be using my own energy. I can't have anyone slowing us down, including myself." He reached into what appeared to be a pouch and pulled out a lustrous glassy chunk of crystalline rock golden orange in color. As she stared at it, she was reminded of amber. "This will suffice. It seems bringing this along with me was a good idea after all."

She eyed the stone. It had an inner glow like the fire of life, as though it absorbed energy and released it in a soft warm burst when needed. "...What is it?"

"Amber." Oh really? So they had amber even here or was the name just a coincidence? "It's a crystal that absorbs energy and converts it into usable power that we use for healing properties and as the source of power that makes our machines run. Usually we bring a small stone with us in case of just such an emergency as this, but they can be kind of heavy..."

She still hesitated, unsure of whether to let him waste what precious energy he had left on her for so trivial a matter, be it from a stone or his own body. The injury would heal itself up soon enough, although the dislocation would take longer than broken skin, but it would still heal. But in the end, knowing that no matter how fast she healed and the fact that she would not be able to keep up with how fast they could run, she would still slow them down, so she took his hand. The stone's hot inner fire gleamed from his hand, and then their touching palms began to glow. That glow emitted a soft warmth that quickly built up and drifted throughout her body, slowly absorbing the aches and pains. It was warmest where it hurt most, and where the worst wounds were. She could literally feel it mending flesh and bone, gently sucking the dislocated bone back into place without causing more pain.

"Kya." She said, voice soft with the slight haze the warmth left in her brain. He gave her a confused look. "My name, and my race is human."

His confusion dispelled, he gave her what seemed to be a half smile. "Aton, and my friend here is Thowra. The one we lost is Kade. His mate and kits will be saddened to hear that he's been captured. We are Kit'Sa, all of Nairne, the biggest Native tribe in the Sky Lands, and these lands in the sky make up our world. We don't know of anything else beyond." He looked away, his mind working, but then his dark animal-like gaze returned to hers. "But I am not the right person to answer all your questions. I'm still judging whether or not to take you to our hidden village. If you work for the enemy, I might as well betray my race and exile myself if I bring you."

Kya raised a brow. "I'm sorry for his family, but how can I be working for the enemy if I don't even know who the enemy is? I still don't understand what you are or how your world works, and to top it all off, my brother and I must've just dropped in right on your heads. I apologize for that by the way..."

"You didn't. My friends found you, and I found them sniffing you out, even though I told them it was dangerous to linger in one area for too long."

"In that case, never mind... but one more thing; how do you know my language when your friend clearly doesn't, especially if you don't even recognize my race?"

Something like pride flashed across his face. "It's a trick of mind magic that I learned from one of our chief tribe elders. It's difficult, so not many others can do it. I have to absorb a sample of the knowledge from your mind, and presto, I know your dialect."

Her eyes narrowed. Out popped the savior's true nature. Was arrogance who he was? "I see... so you mind raped me." She knew it was a rude thing to say, but she couldn't help teasing him.

Finishing the healing he had promised, the inner fire in the stone flickered out as if used up. The glow of their palms stopped, and he quickly chucked the dead stone and retracted his hand from hers as if appalled by her blunt accusation. "What? No! It's not like that! I had to in order to help you!" It was exactly the reaction she was going for.

It was her turn to smirk. "But you still did so without my permission. That's mind rape."

"How was I supposed to help you if I don't know your language?"

"Body language, maybe? I'm not an idiot, I can read a gesture."

"That's not the point!"

The sound of snickering filled the air and they turned to see the other Kit'Sa, Thowra, tittering at them. Aton glared at him and grunted something in their tongue that probably meant something along the lines of "shut the hell up", but Thowra couldn't seem to stop.

Kya grinned and shared a glance with the other Kit'Sa. "He seems to understand what's going on. Did he mind rape me, too? I hope that doesn't run in the racial gene pool." Now that she got a good look at him, this Kit'Sa was not actually a brown color like Kade's or Aton's. Thowra's fur was a beautiful bright sun gold, his mane and tail a rich shade of deep lavender, his dark eyes filled with warmth and wisdom. He wasn't as tall or as muscular as Aton, but he looked strong and sensible, and he also appeared to be quite young.

"...No." Aton replied indignantly. "He's just good at reading the situation. He can't use that technique, anyway. His strongest point is in healing."

Kya laughed. "And that just proves my point. I rest my case."

Aton turned his glare on her then, but his retort was interrupted by a faint nearby explosion. The fun forgotten, all three of them turned in that direction in alarm. The beasts must've called in reinforcements.

"They're back?" She whispered through the silence that ensued. She could see both Thowra's and Aton's ears swiveling, gauging the distance and direction of the sound.

"...We should get going." Aton said, and she could see him returning to survival mode. Thowra grunted something at him and he turned to the other Kit'Sa with a strange look on his face. "Thowra..." The two went into what looked like a serious conversation that ended with Aton reluctantly accepting whatever proposal Thowra had made.

Kya could only look on in wonder. "What? What's happening?" And then Thowra ran off in the direction of the explosions. "Where's he going?"

"Thowra's got a plan..." Aton replied, but his tone sounded grim and uncertain.

She had a feeling she knew what it was and her heart sank, but she still asked anyway. "What... what kind of plan?"

"A fool hardy one," He answered, and it was clear that he was already regretting letting his friend go, "and still he wants us to trust him."

"...He's going to hold them off, isn't he?"

"...Yes. He wants to be captured. He thinks he can free some of our people from the inside."

Fool hardy indeed. She wanted to shout "how can he be so stupid?" but in the end, as her thoughts wrangled with each other to make sense out of all this, she realized that things might be a lot worse than they first looked. Whatever they were doing to these Kit'Sa was so horrible that they literally had to sacrifice themselves just to free each other? And what if they had Frank? But there was nothing she could do until she learned more about the situation, and the only way to do that was to go to this hidden Kit'Sa village. Someone there must be leading them, and that leader must be knowledgeable enough to answer the many questions she had now. So she decided to trust in Thowra. If he failed, she could always go to his rescue later... if the Kit'Sa weren't dying that is. "Let's go."

Aton gave her a horrified look, as though he was not yet through convincing himself to do the same. "You can't seriously be thinking of just leaving him?"

"As things stand, we can't help him now." She replied firmly. It was her turn to take charge now. She knew enough from her stepfather's line of work that when things got bad, you had to think with a clear head and not rush in head first. Not that she wasn't guilty of doing just that, but at this point, what else could they do? "He's made his choice. We will just have to trust in him for now. We can only help him once we've saved ourselves and can come back with a plan to rescue them. Now take me to your tribe leader. I need answers, and to find my brother."

Aton stared at her, unable to accept the truth but knowing she was right. He probably didn't fully accept it still, but with a pained expression he gestured for her to follow as he once again led the way. "It's this way. Stay close."

As they started down the path again and he began to accelerate, she found herself left in his dust. "I'm afraid you might have to slow down a little, I can't keep when you're at your fastest." She had to shout just to be heard. That's how far ahead he already was.

He paused, crossing a hand-crafted bridge through a grove of giant wild flowers and fruits, and looked behind him and groaned at what he saw. "Ugh... Are all humans as slow as you are?"

She glared at him and tried to keep her tone even. "Sorry to burst your bubble, but I'm the second fastest one there is."

"That's just great..." With a sigh, he begrudgingly waited for her to catch up before he started again, this time more aware of her pace. "But it won't matter much once we get to the stream and into the natural air current system."

"The wha-?" Either something was wrong with her or he didn't fully heal her because for some odd reason she wasn't paying attention to what was ahead of her, and suddenly she felt a violent gust of wind blow her off her feet like an air cannon. What happened next happened far too quick even for her advanced brain to keep up with, but the next moment she found herself in Aton's arms on the ground just a hair's breadth away from a current of air blasting from a vent in the earth in one direction: at a wall covered with thick, heavily spiked vines. Had the Kit'Sa not been there to rescue her however he had, she would have been skewered. "Wh-wh-what the hell is that?"

"Did I not mention the natural air vent system? It's everywhere!" He released her as she stood up on her own. "I'm guessing wherever you come from doesn't have these."

"Not like this, no... this is just crazy..." That air flow was coming out at hurricane wind speeds, but how it only went in one direction boggled her mind.

"I've heard it happens because these lands float in the sky," he said, and he seemed to be preparing for something, "We don't exactly understand why yet."

"Forget how it works, how do we get passed it?" At just the moment she said this, the air current stopped, and Aton grabbed her arm and rushed passed it. And he was just in time to because the moment her feet were through the air came billowing out again. "Ok, that answers that question... But uh..." But right in front of them was yet another of the same air vents, and beyond it she could see more.

"Just stay close to me, I'll get us through." As he spoke those words, she could hear the distinctly familiar sound of a big ego in his tone, and she immediately pictured Everette in Aton's place, but only for a short moment. Everette had never actually been as helpful as Aton had in only the short time she had met him. Aton was certainly more considerate as well.

So she stayed close to him and let him guide her through the system of about six or so vents. After about the third one she already had the hang of it. It was as they came to the end of the line of vents that they came upon what appeared at first to be a dead end with another wooden contraption, shuddering like it was old and ready to burst apart, a dome shaped head in the ground that looked like it opened up somehow. But before she could figure the thing out, she sensed a large form approaching from below and, low and behold, another wooden contraption with the mangy gray dog men operating it, and this time it worked like an air version of the tank, but instead of propellers to keep it in the air, it had three very strange almost marshmallow-like plants growing from the back and front ends, and an even bigger cannon.

"Uhm... Aton? I think- Erk!" The Kit'Sa grabbed her hand and tugged her along again in a direction she had not noticed before, and he only let go when he felt she was following.

He then proceeded to jump across a rock formation that led to a cliff over grown with trees and a single entrance in the middle concealed by a small waterfall. She followed him through it, having no idea what was on the other side, heard a splash, and could not stop as she stepped through and slipped. She promptly fell face first onto a wet slippery slide made of tree wood smoothed over by the water. Riding the current like that on her stomach, she lifted her head and saw Aton ahead of her doing the same except he was on his feet as though he was snowboarding on water, only without the board. Now snowboarding was something she did regularly as was surfing and water skiing, but sports like windsurfing or wakeboarding were things she hadn't tried before, especially without a board at all. Either Aton really had it down or it wasn't as hard as it looked. What was the harm in trying it?

So with a bit of struggling and falling a few times in order to get it right, she managed to get to her knees first and then onto her feet. After that, she just mimicked Aton's movements and just like that, she had it down. It really wasn't that hard as long as you had the balance and the coordination, which for her came easily, whether because of her condition or naturally, or maybe a combination of both, she didn't know. Either way, she was glad she had it once the blood red thorns appeared. They weren't bad enough to skewer her, but they would still be painful if she fell in.

As they came to a smooth landing on solid ground again, she found that her legs were shaky at first from being on the natural water slide for so long, but her quick adaptation set in fast. However, upon landing, there was a growl to their left followed by the sound of a gun being reloaded, and they both turned to see another wolf man, weapon raised. Aton stepped in front of Kya as if to take the first shot that landed, but Kya reacted faster. He may have been able to run much faster, but his reflexes were nowhere near as sharp as hers. Before he could do anything she was already on the beast, sending a flying spin kick at the enemy's face with all her power, sending him spinning through the air, and the minute the wolf man hit the ground he was out cold, gun landing far from his hands.

Aton stared at her as if unable to believe she had just done that. "...Not so helpless after all, I see."

"I told you these guys aren't that tough." She grinned smugly back at him, very much amused by his reaction. "What are those guys anyway?"

"We call them Kahnei Wolfen," He replied, "Every time one of us disappears, another one of them appears. They may not be so tough when alone, but in numbers you should be more vigilant. The small ones like the one you just took out are dumb and weak, but the bigger ones require far more caution."

"Is that so...?" Sounded like a case of werewolves to her. She glanced back to make sure her work was done and spotted another shuddering dome contraption in the ground. What were those things? She turned to ask Aton but he was already gone. The last thing she saw of him was his silver tail disappearing into a dark hole in the rock. "Aton?" She followed after him and peered inside of the narrow crevice, analyzing just how small it was and if she could fit through. On the other side, she could see the Kit'Sa's form, his silver mane gleaming in the light.

"Stay there for a second. I'll go scout ahead." He said and then she saw him disappear somewhere beyond her vision. For at least a minute he was gone, but then she saw that familiar silver flash and then his face appeared at the other end, gesturing for her to follow. "It looks like there's a Wolfen check point ahead, cause there are a lot of them. We can't afford to let them see us, so just follow my lead and be as quiet as possible."

Nodding hesitantly, she crouched and pulled herself in as tight as she could just to fit inside. Crawling was slightly difficult in such a narrow space, but luckily it wasn't long nor did the size change much. She made it out only to be dragged by him again to the side, hand over her mouth to keep her quiet, and when she looked she saw why. Right in front of them was what looked like a war zone camp area with those mangy wolf man everywhere, all of them with weapons or nearby what looked like alarm bells, too many to take on all at once. Had she stood up when she first came through she would have been seen and that would be the end of their stealthy get away.

So she let him lead her by the hand through a bit of an obstacle course just to get around the whole camp. The area was a lot larger than it first appeared. At least twice they had to sneak by right under the noses of the beasts, the Wolfen, and at one point they were crawling under a raised platform on which stood at least three of them. Kya had never been the best at sneaking around. She usually preferred to rush in and mow a path through, but that was not an option here. So now she was so completely aware of every noise she made that she was literally cringing at even the tiniest crush of grass underfoot.

Being well aware had its perks, but being TOO well aware had a serious down side… like when you lose focus and suddenly hit your head on the raised platform your crawling under right beneath a Wolfen. Yeah. Although it wasn't completely silent as the beasts grunted to each other in their own special language, needless to say, the sound reverberated through the camp, and the whole place came alive as every Wolfen in the area was suddenly on high alert and looking for the source.

"Crap..." She whimpered, her voice swallowed up by the flood of new activity. Aton wrapped an arm over her shoulder and clamped a hand over her mouth again, this time pressing her flat on the ground. She noticed that he was on his back in front of her, keeping his silver hair from flashing and giving their hiding place away, and using his form to hide the bright red of her satin robe.

"You should get rid of the red garb." He whispered quietly, ears darting every which way like satellite dishes, his gaze watching the situation carefully.

"What!" She responded, her voice almost inaudible. Whether it was instinct or habit, she really wasn't fond of the idea of running around like a barely covered wild woman in a strange land where anything could happen. Different races completely or not, how did she know these animal men wouldn't find her attractive or something? If that happened and she just waltzed into their village, she would hate to have to deal with cat calls and awkward pick up lines. But then, they only dressed in dirty bandages so...

"Just do it. We'll use it as a distraction."

"But they're dogs! Aren't they color blind? They can't-"

"Color blind?"

She stared at him. The tone of his voice suggested that he didn't understand what she meant. So he had grabbed her language from her brain but not the meaning of every word? She sighed. If dogs could see in color in this world then they were truly in trouble. Guess there wasn't much choice then, was there? Reluctantly, she stripped herself of her robe, staying as close to the ground as possible. Aton grabbed the robe and covered them with it. She wanted to ask 'what the hell are you doing?' but refrained. He'd gotten them this far, what reason was there to doubt him now? She would see soon enough anyway. It wasn't long before one of the Wolfen spotted the sharp accent of the red in the grass under the wooden platform. At that point, Aton motioned for her to go. She gave him a confused look.

"Go hide somewhere outside the camp and wait for me, I'll come get you soon."

"Your just gonna leave me?"

"I won't be that long, now hurry up, their coming! And stay low to the grass!"

She tried to protest further, but he pushed her before she could, forcing her to do as he told her. Now out in the open, she bolted and kept low, hoping no one was staring at her ass the whole way. She didn't stray far from the camp, and instead of running as far as she could as Aton had implied, she stayed right on the outskirts, picking the perfect place to lay low and sulk.

Being a damsel in distress was a position she didn't at all adore. Nor was being left behind and protected like she was helpless... or waiting in vain for her companion to come back from a mission that was pure folly. She had already forced herself to abandon two allies. She couldn't bring herself to abandon another one. But could she risk a rescue? After about five minutes of waiting and thinking it over, she finally gave in. "Screw this." There was no way she could be expected to sit there and wait like a frightened child. Her mind made up, she immediately left the safety of her hiding place and tore off back inside the camp.

* * *

**LOL a little KyaXAton anyone? How about some Kya ecchi? I totally didn't mean for that to happen, sorry XD *shot* ****(help! I've fallen into the gutter and I can't get out!)**

**Hm… I was hoping to have finished the whole first chase scene in one chapter but… I suppose this will do. I think I can finish it in the next chapter and start on Frank's POV too. He'll get his own full chapter soon, but his first thoughts in this new world would have been short anyway. Then again… we shall see XD.**

**Speaking of other characters, I'm currently in debate mode as to whether to have Thowra rescued or bring a band of Kit'Sa home by himself at one point later. Oh, and speaking of Kit'Sa, I apologize for changing the name of the Nativ. Lol, I just felt that just calling them Nativ was… too ambiguous. I'm sure they call themselves something after all, and have their own language too.**

**I've changed a lot, but I built it around the original ideas, so hopefully I didn't hinder things too much. More detail was my goal, not ruining the fun. Oh, and speaking of THAT, I might end up butchering the story a little… alright maybe a lot… because I wanted to answer everything that goes unanswered, including the ending which left us on a cliffhanger. Filling that in, well… that kinda requires butchering the story at least a little, but as I said, it's all built around the original idea. Or at least I tried ^^'… forgive me!**


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